Factory tail light converter for a trailer - power rating?

[nckwltn]

I plugged in my 4 pin blade style (I assume from the factory) tail light converter for a small trailer yesterday, and the trailer lights were VERY dim. Connecting one of the tail lights directly to he battery and it was plenty bright. I was also having problems with the running lights on the trailer and traced the trailer lights connector on the montero back to the driverside tail light housing and a tail light converter.

Is this thing factory? I can't find any markings on it, and I can't find anything in the FSM on it. The trailer is small, but the tail lights (from what I'm reading) can pull 2 amps each, plus the running lights.

I'm thinking that thing is not working properly. I did probe around with a volt meter and was able to get 12+ volts for the running lights. Anyone know how to test this thing? I'm tempted to cut it out and replace it. Also does anyone have any specs on it?

 

[PajEvo]

Hi Nick (I'm making an assumption based on your user name... Correct me if I'm wrong )

I just had the same experience a few weeks ago, and hopefully have a fix for you. Give me a little time to dig up the pics. Just got back from a vacation.

 

[PajEvo]

Okay, found the pics easier than I thought...

I had what looked to be the same converter as yours going to a flat four. I needed a seven round to connect to my travel trailer so I went out and got an adapter, planning to have it finished in a few minutes. No such luck... After plugging it in and getting nothing, I pulled the converter off and probed the flat four. Still nothing. I hoped for a bad ground but after redoing the rusty splices behind the left taillight, I still had no power coming from the harness. When I pulled the right taillight, I found what looked to be an identical twin of your converter. I ran a power lead straight from my spare battery to the power wire on the converter, and got nothing but a burned electrical smell. The rest of the splices were also rusty, and some of the copper was black as far as I stripped it. This was starting to look like a bigger fix...

I completely removed the old converter harness, and went off to my local auto store to try and find something that'd work. Of course Mitsu harnesses are as common as gen3s themselves around here... Think "great auk" or "coelacanth"... So I looked for something that was close. And then... I struck gold. Well, copper.

 

[PajEvo]

Here's what I found:



It looked VERY VERY close. A couple of different connections, and the converter sat in the left tail, but it looked like it was hackable, so I bought it, found my shrink tube, and went to work...

Getting it home, I found that the connectors were identical (the ones that mirror your taillight's connectors) with one additional wire in each that made no difference. The schematics needed some altering however... The following two pics illustrate the changes I had to make to each side to make it work:

 

[PajEvo]

Hopefully this helps? First pic is left, second right. Had a soldering iron meltdown (LOL) so had to use crimps. At least they're shrink wrapped this time, so they should be more waterproof. If you compare the old harness to the new, you can see where to send the wires, but my pics should make it easier.

Cheers
Phil

 

[nckwltn]

Yeah, that helps... and you're spot on with the name.


Sounds like I'll just need to hack out the one I have and replace it. All of my connectors and connections look good and clean (no rust).... it might be just that the device has given up the ghost.

going to do some testing on the trailer tonight to see make sure all is wired up correctly there.


Thanks!